UPDATE, Thursday, May 28 at 5:30 p.m.
Baltimore, MD – State medical examiners have determined a Prince George’s County man, who along with four fishing companions, fell in the water when their boat capsized early Sunday morning, May 24, drowned as a result of the accident.
Maryland Natural Resources Police (NRP) identified the deceased as Salvador Amilcay Santos, 37 of New Carrollton.
Bruce Goldfarb, a spokesman for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of Maryland, told The Bay Net Santos’ death was ruled a drowning.
According to NRP spokeswoman Candy Thomson, investigators are still trying to determine what caused the 18-foot vessel to sink near the confluence of the Chesapeake Bay and Fishing Creek in Chesapeake Beach. Authorities have also been unable to determine if any of the five boaters was wearing a lifejacket at the time of the accident.
UPDATE at 1:55 p.m. Sunday, May 24, 2015
The identity of a man who died after an early-morning boating accident Sunday, May 24 in Calvert County has been released.
According to Maryland Natural Resources Police (NRP) spokeswoman Candy Thomson, the deceased man was positively identified as Salvador Amilcay Santos, 37 of New Carrollton.
Santos was one of five people aboard an 18-foot, bayliner-style vessel built in 1984 that began taking on water shortly after embarking on a 2 a.m. fishing trip in Chesapeake Beach. For unknown reasons the craft began taking on water. All five occupants of the boat ended up in the water.
Thomson said “a good Samaritan” operating another boat in the area of the Fishing Creek-Chesapeake Bay confluence rescued all five occupants from the waters. The passing boater then began administering CPR to Santos.
Crews from the North Beach Volunteer Fire Department and NRP subsequently arrived and Santos was transported to Calvert Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Thomson said the vessel was recovered in 32 feet of water and was found floating vertically with its bow up.
There were an undetermined number of life jackets about the boat, however, “we don’t know if anybody was wearing them,” said Thomson. She added that investigators have not determined yet whether the vessel was lighted.
The four survivors, also from New Carrollton, refused treatment.
According to Thomson, NRP are currently examining the boat to determine the exact cause of the accident and are continuing to interview the four survivors.
Initial story posted Sunday morning, May 24, 2015
CHESAPEAKE BEACH, MD – One person is dead as a result of an early-morning boating accident in Calvert County, state officials reported.
According to a spokeswoman for the Maryland Natural Resources Police (NRP), five people were traveling in a boat in the Fishing Creek/Chesapeake Bay area near the Rod ‘N’ Reel shortly before 3 a.m. when the vessel began taking on water. All five people ended up in the water.
According to investigators, a passerby pulled all five people out of the water and began performing CPR on a male who was unresponsive.
Crews from the North Beach Volunteer Fire Department subsequently arrived at the scene. The man was transported to Calvert Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The NRP reported all five people are from the New Carrolton area of Prince George’s County.
The name of the deceased has not been released at this time.
Contact Marty Madden at marty.madden@thebaynet.com